Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward speaks at the University of Alabama

Saturday

Feb 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | Eight years ago at a conference in Colorado, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward sat down next to former vice president Al Gore for dinner. It was an experience he described as “unpleasant.”

By Jamon SmithStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | Eight years ago at a conference in Colorado, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward sat down next to former vice president Al Gore for dinner.It was an experience he described as “unpleasant.”“Gore was a former journalist and he thinks he invented (journalism), as well as the Internet,” Woodward said, drawing laughter from a crowd of more than 300 people at the University of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center Friday.After entertaining a few questions from Gore on why he didn’t come down harder on former president George W. Bush in his book “Bush At War,” Woodward asked Gore a serious question.“How much does the public know about what goes on in the White House?” Woodward said.He said Gore answered, “One percent.”Woodward said that Gore was being facetious. But the truth, he said, is that the American public really doesn’t know about 60 to 70 percent of what goes on behind the doors of the White House.“We don’t know enough,” he said.Woodward was the keynote speaker in the Blackburn Institute’s Gloria and John L. Blackburn Symposium Lecture series. The Blackburn Institute is a leadership development organization within UA’s division of student affairs.Mary Caldwell, coordinator of the Blackburn Institute, said Woodward was invited to speak because of his reputation as one of the country’s leading journalists.“We thought it’d be interesting for the university and the community to hear from such a prominent figure,” Caldwell said.Woodward is an associate editor at The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1971.During his first year as a reporter at the Post, he and then fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, covered the Watergate scandal, revealing details that led to criminal investigations and the eventual resignation of former president Richard Nixon.The work earned the pair a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 and a movie — “All the President’s Men” — about their investigation into the scandal was released in 1976.Woodward won a second Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his work as the lead reporter on the Post’s coverage of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.In addition to his work as a newspaper journalist, Woodward has written or co-written 17 best-selling books.In his candid, hour-long speech, Woodward shared tips on how to be a good reporter. He also shared his insights and opinions on political topics and stories about his personal encounters with former President Gerald Ford, former President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama and possible 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”As a reporter, you try to peel the onion,” Woodward said.“We try to get the best obtainable version of the truth,” he said later.When answering questions, Woodward was asked how journalists — who have the power to bring about change — balance their political aspirations with the truth that they’re supposed to seek and unveil.Woodward said a journalist’s job isn’t to change anything. It’s to explain.“What Watergate proved is that (the American public) can handle the truth,” he said.After the lecture, Woodward said he thinks today’s journalists can still do the kind of work that he and Bernstein did reporting on Watergate. It just takes a lot of work and time.“It can be done,” he said. “It’s harder, and it’s easier. It’s about time against the problem.” Woodward said something that always bothered him after Nixon’s resignation in 1974 was the televised announcement made on Sept. 8 that year by Nixon’s vice president and presidential successor, Gerald Ford. In the announcement, Ford granted Nixon a full pardon for any crimes he committed against the U.S. during the Watergate scandal.Woodward said he was in bed when the announcement was made early that morning. He found out about it when Bernstein called him.“Have you heard?” he said Bernstein asked him. “The son of a bitch pardoned the son of a bitch.”Woodward said he couldn’t understand how the person who orchestrated Watergate could get off completely while 43 other people rotted in prison.“I thought this was one of the baddest, most corrupt deals of all time,” he said.The issue chewed at his psyche for 20 more years until he decided to call Ford and ask him why he gave the pardon.Ford agreed to speak with him about it, and after several long interviews Ford gave him what appeared to be an honest answer.Ford told him he didn’t pardon Nixon for Nixon. He said he did it because he wanted the country to move past Watergate and regain faith in the U.S. presidency.“I have to get Nixon and Watergate off the front page,” he said Ford told him. He considered that to be in the best interest of the country. When Ford’s confession was revealed, some in the public called it courageous, Woodward said.“What a cold shower to know that earlier I thought about this one way, and after the scrutiny of history it turns out the other way,” Woodward said.Woodward said Ford was a misunderstood president.Woodward’s most recent book, “The Price of Politics,” is based on 18 months of reporting he did on how Obama and leaders in Congress have tried to restore the economy.While examining Obama, Woodward said he realized that the president truly wants peace.“It’s true that ‘he who desires peace must prepare for war,’ but Obama desires peace,” he said.He said Obama has used drone attacks against the nation’s enemies in an attempt to end conflicts and limit who gets hurt without entering into a drawn out war.When asked a final question on what he thinks the nation’s current “boogeyman” is, Woodward said there is no one answer, but what scares him the most is secret government.“Democracy dies in the darkness,” he said. “We get a secret government, beware. It’s the end. For me, that’s the thing that I worry about the most.”